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PR Name Change After Marriage

yakitori

Newbie
Mar 25, 2009
7
0
Hello,

My wife is originally from Malaysia and we got married 7 years ago and she got her Permanent Resident card and has been living with me in Vancouver, BC for the past 6 years. During that time she kept her surname and did not get it changed. We have been discussing recently and now want to get it changed to my surname.

I read the Legal Change Name Application page (government of BC website) but have a few question. Unfortunately it doesn't let me post links here.

It states that there are situations where she wouldn't need a legal name change and just be able to update her SIN, driver's license, bank accounts etc just by showing the marriage certificate and current identification. This seems like the most hassle free way to do things but I want to make sure I understand things.

So as long as my name and last name is on the marriage certificate she should be able to change her name on accounts like SIN, driver's license etc. Her PR card and home country passport would not change. So in the case where she needs to renew her PR card, would there be issues with the name conflict for SIN, driver's license, etc? Wouldn't the SIN have to have her legal name?

She does not want to change her name on her Malaysian passport. Would it be better to get the legal name change? Are there any implications with regards to immigration/traveling issues?

Just trying to figure out what we should do. Whether to do the legal name change and go through the application process or just change her name non-legally. Seems like the legal name change would take some time since she would need to apply for a new PR card as well. We will be going to Malaysia for a month next month so I'm not going to do this now but want to get ahead of the game and get as much information as I can so I know what to do when we're back.

Anyone else been in the same situation?

Thank you for your time.